Awake, Love, Think, Speak
by Kielle
Summary: Destiny and Delight (of Neil Gaiman's Endless) play godparents at the birth of Narnia. Sandman crossover. Short and sweet.


Awake, Love, Think, Speak  
By Kielle (kielle@subreality.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Rated G. I own nothing but the plot (?) idea itself, so no sue please tankyew. Do not archive or distribute this without my permission, which is astoundingly easy to get. The characters belong to Neil Gaiman and C.S. Lewis, with a brief nod to Michael Ende. And if that combination doesn't pique your interest, I don't know what will.  
  
Thanks: To Fionny and Rossi for their most timely betaread. To Crantz for catching an embarrassing error. And to whichever of my dad's younger sibs (David? Ruth?) who lent me the book that started this all those years ago.  
  
Author's Note: This damn plotbunny dragged me out of bed at two in the morning. *Two in the bloody morning!* This is what I get for poring through Luba's Stories From The Shadows (http://home.att.net/~lubakmetyk/non-x.htm), which is loaded with some of the best crossover ideas I've ever seen. However, this one is purely my own...  
  
PS: Feedback, as ever, is adored. ;)  
  
***  
  
At first there was Nothing. And then there was Something, or rather there was Someone.  
  
"We are here," a Somber Voice announced. Perhaps it was an unnecessary sort of thing to say, but something had to be said First, and so perhaps this was an acceptable way to begin.  
  
"It's awfully dark," said a second voice. It was a Colorful Voice, even though color did not yet exist, and so we shall call it that for now.  
  
A third Something chuckled. "As a colleague of mine is apt to say such moments," this third Voice rumbled, a richly Alive sound that lapped outwards through the void in lazy Golden ripples, "it is Always Dark In The Beginning."  
  
"I like beginnings," the Colorful Voice exclaimed. "Will this be a good one?"  
  
"You know I can't answer that," the Somber Voice chided, but the third speaker replied "Of course. And there will also be a good Middle, and a good End, though I regret that there will be Difficult Times along the way. There will be Pain and Hate and Loss. There always is."  
  
The Colorful Voice somehow managed to project a pout despite the fact that pouts had not been invented yet either. "I don't see why it can't all be good. My sister--"  
  
"Is not here yet," the Golden Voice purred, "but she and her twin will be here sooner than I would like. Still...it will never be boring. And that is the purpose of those 'bad things' you cannot abide, little one."  
  
The Somber Voice seemed to smile ever so slightly at that. A chain chinked faintly in the darkness. "It is unusual to speak with a being with such knowledge -- and such acceptance -- of its own destiny."  
  
A rumbling laugh. "Is this intrusive?"  
  
"It is...strangely comfortable."  
  
"And why you have entered my domain at this particular time...or non-time, as the case may be?"  
  
"My sister -- this sister -- wanted to see a Beginning. It has been a very long time."  
  
"It has indeed."  
  
A companionable silence fell. As the Golden Voice had playfully noted, time had not yet been invented here; the lull in conversation could have lasted a second or a year. Either way, it was far too long for the smallest of the trio. She began to fidget impatiently. Finally she blurted out, "Are you *sure* this place doesn't exist yet?"  
  
The Golden Voice replied, "As I have not yet created it, I would say that it is safe to assume so. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Because I think I hear somebody else talking."  
  
They listened. Sure enough, there were voices -- faint, far away, but definitely voices. Not Great Interesting Archetypal Voices like the Three we have been eavesdropping on, but the small quarrelsome piping of human beings. Human beings who most certainly did not belong Here.  
  
The Golden Voice sighed. "And so it begins."  
  
Paper rustled in the darkness as the Somber Voice asked, "You knew this would happen?"  
  
"Of course. However, it *is* technically a random element. I am afraid it will make our future matters..."  
  
"Difficult?"  
  
A leonine smile in the darkness. "...I was going to say, 'Interesting.'"  
  
"You're very strange," the Colorful Voice spoke up crossly.  
  
The Golden Voice chuckled again, a Good Sound that seemed to glimmer warmly in the nothingness. You can see it if you close your eyes and hold very still. "Thank you. Now, if you both would be so kind as to step back? I have much to do, and little time left in which to do it..."  
  
They did so. "They"? In other places, they bear many names and many forms. You yourself may know them as the Endless. You might even be so bold as to call them Destiny and Delight.  
  
Here in this dark place, however, nothing yet existed to grant them a proper name nor form...so, politely, nameless and formless for now, they waited.  
  
And then the Lion Sang, and a thousand thousand brilliant stars shimmered into existence over Narnia.  
  
  
-30- 


End file.
